Thursday, February 21, 2008

National Audubon Society Not Affiliated with MassAudubon

I have yet another update on my Nation Audubon Society membership saga. It started back in mid-January when I was charged right away, didn't receive any materials until a few weeks later, and as of yet I still haven't received a copy of the magazine.

All along I've suspected that national membership does not cover my local chapter membership (which happens to be Massachusetts) because there is such a high discrepancy in membership dues ($20 vs. $44). I decided to get on the phone Monday, as I posted, spoke with a very nice woman from the national office and then waited to hear back from my local chapter. Then I got a call on Tuesday explaining that the National Audubon Society is not affiliated with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. So now I have a national membership that offers me no value (except for the magazine) and I have to start from scratch in getting a MassAudubon membership. I hate to complain so much, especially when I know the funds I've donated still go to a good cause, but it's a little frustrating because this information is not disclosed on the website. Hopefully I can be of help to other Mass residents interested in joinging the Audubon Society and not knowing where to start! My advice—go directly to the MassAudubon Website.

2 comments:

There's a great book that will help clarify the relationships between all of the Audubon societies and how they came to be: A World of Watchers, by Joseph Kastner. It's out of print but you can still find copies at libraries and (used) at Amazon.com.

Where I live, there is an independent Audubon society (called Audubon Naturalist) and also a local chapter of National Audubon. Both are very worthwhile groups.